ObjectivesMusculoskeletal pain often occurs at multiple sites concurrently. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between multi-site pain and self-rated work ability and retirement plans among actively working people.MethodsThe Health 2000 Survey was carried among a representative sample of Finnish adults. Musculoskeletal pain during the preceding month in the lower back, neck or shoulders, upper extremities, hips and lower extremities, and work ability and intentions to retire early were assessed. Subjects were also clinically examined. Analyses were restricted to 30–64-year-old subjects actively working during the preceding 12 months who provided information on work ability outcomes (population-weighted number of subjects=4087). Log-binomial regression was used to estimate prevalence ratios of reduced work ability.ResultsSingle-site pain was reported by 33% of subjects, 20%, 9% and 4% reported pain in two, three and four sites, respectively, and 8%–15% reported poor work ability. Every fifth person had thought about retiring early. Age- and gender-adjusted risks of poor physical work ability and own prognosis of poor future work ability increased from 2 for single-site pain to 8 for pain at four sites. Risks remained considerably elevated after adjustment for various covariates, including clinical musculoskeletal disorders and functional capacity. Poor current work ability was most affected by multi-site pain at older age (50–64 years) and intentions to retire early at age 40–49 years.ConclusionsCo-occurring pain is a considerable threat to work ability. Workers with multi-site pain may benefit from targeted preventive measures to sustain their work ability. Future studies should also consider multi-site pain as an important risk factor for reduced work ability.

The intervention did not reduce perceived physical work load and no evidence was found for the efficacy of the intervention in preventing musculoskeletal disorders among kitchen workers. It may be that a more comprehensive redesign of work organisation and processes is needed, taking more account of workers' physical and mental resources.

We studied the number of musculoskeletal pain sites as a predictor of sickness absence during a 7-year follow-up among a nationally representative sample (the Health 2000 survey) of occupationally active Finns 30 to 55years of age (3420 subjects who did not retire or die during the follow-up). Baseline data (questionnaire, interview, clinical examination by a physician) were gathered in 2000 to 2001 and linked with information from national registers on annual compensated sickness absence periods (⩾10workdays) covering the years 2002 to 2008. Pain during the preceding month in 18 body locations was inquired and combined into 4 sites (neck, upper limbs, low back, lower limbs). Demographic factors, BMI, smoking, leisure-time physical activity, sleep disorders, physical and psychosocial workload, and chronic diseases were assessed. Four distinct sickness absence trajectories emerged, labeled as Low (59% of the subjects), Ascending (21%), Mixed (11%), and High (9%). In multinomial logistic regression, the odds ratios (ORs) for belonging to the High vs. the Low trajectory increased with the number of pain sites, being 2.1 for single-site pain, 2.6 for 2 pain sites, 2.9 for 3 pain sites, and 4.1 for 4 pain sites, after adjustment for chronic diseases, demographic and lifestyle factors, and workload. The confidence intervals of the ORs did not include unity. The adjusted ORs for belonging to the Ascending trajectory were 1.1, 1.3, 1.7, and 1.7, respectively. As the number of pain sites was a strong independent predictor of work absenteeism, early screening of workers with multisite pain and interventions to support work ability seem warranted.

Widespread co-occurrence of musculoskeletal pain symptoms was common among female kitchen workers with slight predominance in the upper body.